Pineapple pie…
That had always been Chaerin’s favorite.

And how cheap…
Apologizing with a slice of pineapple pie.
Please, put that on my grave: “He was as cheap as his cheap apologies”

I would have drowned in my shame, if not for her voice.

“Sanghyun!” – Chaerin shouted from the other side of the street. Her eyes on the package in my hands.

“Are those for me?” – she greeted, giving me a peck on the lips. My dirty lips…so heavy with guilt that did not part to let my voice out.
A smile was all I managed.

“You’re quite late, sir!” – she spoke. Her eyes really tiny as she smiled.

That smile…so sincere and pure…
I had so much to tell her…but a smile was all I managed.

And her smile vanished as soon as mine appeared.
“Hey…I know I haven’t been the best girlfriend for you, and I know there are plenty of women out there that are much more worthy of you, but…”

But…
But…
“But you didn’t have to do what you’ve done. You didn’t have to look for love in another’s arms”?
But…She didn’t finish her sentence.
She didn’t have to.
She knew!
That’s it. Chaerin knew what I have done!

It was difficult to say if it had been the loud sound of my silent guilt that had interrupted her, or if it had been the man that called out for her.

“CL!” – he said, approaching us.

CL…she brightened up, of course.
I had always stuck to Chaerin, but she would always introduce herself as CL.
Said it made her look tougher, that Chaerin sounded too nerdy…

They chatted.
Hi, hi.
They held each other, and she smiled. Probably long time friends…

But that hug lasted for too long.
As if they haven’t seen each other for a really long time; as if they had missed each other’s scent, each other’s arms, each other’s love…
After finally letting go of each other, the man took a glance at me.
“Thunder?” – he asked.

“Sanghyun!” – Chaerin corrected.

That man knew my nickname, but I had absolutely no clue of who he was. Still, Chaerin wouldn’t introduce him.

How was that possible…
Had they been meeting each other secretly? Sharing kisses, and cares behind my back?

The way they held each other, her smile... Chaerin had not smiled like that for a while now… I haven’t been able to make her smile like that for a long time.
She’s been stressed because of her work; one of her aunts had fallen from a palm tree and broken a leg, so Chaerin was stressed because…what the heck was a fourty-two-years-old lady thinking when she decided to climb a palm tree?!; her parents were planning a second honey moon, and they’d insist for her to go with them and take me along… maybe that was the problem.
Maybe I was the problem…

“You’re really pretty!” – I heard that man compliment.

She thanked smiling, complimenting him right after another hug.
How could I be so blind?

They chatted, and chatted.
You’re good? I’m good.
And i could only watch, as they excitedly talked…as Chaerin excitedly forgot me, and all the love she had once had for me…
Perhaps she already had…
It was just a matter of time until she turned around to tell me the news…

Anytime…

But she wouldn’t move.

Even after a long time, enough for my eyes to go from that man’s crayon colored hair to his unmatched shoes, Chaerin would not move.

But it was just a matter of time until she turned around to tell me she was dumping me for a better one… that the love affair she had been having was the one love she wanted, the one she needed.

Anytime…

But she wouldn’t move.
Probably making sure I’d suffer enough for what I had done to her.

She would turn around to dump me anytime soon… then she would ride her love’s motorbike, which he had probably parked not far from here, and leave me behind.

That would serve you well, Sanghyun…

But Chaerin wouldn’t move…